Driver dies and 8 children are injured as school bus crashes

Updated
3:47 am CDT, Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Wrecker crews inspect the damage to a Benton County School bus that was involved in wreck along U.S. Highway 72 near Walnut, Miss., Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, that resulted in the death of the driver and sent several students to the hospital. (Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP) less

Wrecker crews inspect the damage to a Benton County School bus that was involved in wreck along U.S. Highway 72 near Walnut, Miss., Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, that resulted in the death of the driver and sent ... more

Photo: Thomas Wells, AP

Photo: Thomas Wells, AP

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Wrecker crews inspect the damage to a Benton County School bus that was involved in wreck along U.S. Highway 72 near Walnut, Miss., Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, that resulted in the death of the driver and sent several students to the hospital. (Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP) less

Wrecker crews inspect the damage to a Benton County School bus that was involved in wreck along U.S. Highway 72 near Walnut, Miss., Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, that resulted in the death of the driver and sent ... more

Photo: Thomas Wells, AP

Driver dies and 8 children are injured as school bus crashes

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WALNUT, Miss. (AP) — A school bus driver is dead and eight children have injuries after a school bus rolled over in northern Mississippi.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol tells news outlets that the bus driver died in the Tuesday morning incident, with the bus ending up on its side in a ditch.

Officials tell WMC-TV that the 63-year-old driver, Chester Cole, likely suffered a medical emergency. Benton County Coroner Larry Hobson said Cole appeared to his clutch his chest and slumped over in his seat before the crash.

Eight injured children were taken to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. The hospital said four are in serious condition and four others are being released Tuesday.

Troopers say no other vehicles were involved in the wreck on U.S. Highway 72 west of Walnut.